Attorney John Pontius

Attorney John Pontius

Founding Attorney

Knowledgeable Legal Counsel

Mr. Pontius focuses on international tax and tax controversy. He was selected as a Maryland Rising Star in tax by Super Lawyers from 2015-2019. From 2018-2019 he was selected a Washington, DC Rising Star in tax by Super Lawyers. Mr. Pontius has an Avvo rating of 10/10. Mr. Pontius is a member of the Maryland State Bar Association Tax Section Council. In 2019 he was recognized as a Bar Leader by the Montgomery County Bar Foundation after serving as the Tax Section Co-Chair from 2012-2019. He is a third-generation Washingtonian.

Mr. Pontius has extensive examination experience with federal and state audits, protests of proposed adjustments and audit reconsideration. He represents clients on tax liens and levies, collection due process hearings, offers in compromises and requests for penalty abatement. He has experience with employment tax issues such as worker classification and the trust fund recovery penalty.

Prior to founding Pontius Tax Law, PLLC, Mr. Pontius practiced for five years at Maryland tax controversy law firms in Rockville, Annapolis, and Bethesda. Mr. Pontius has two years’ experience in the international corporate tax group at KPMG in Tysons Corner, Virginia where he researched and analyzed a wide range of complex tax matters in the areas of compliance, provision, planning, and restructuring. At the accounting firm, Mr. Pontius worked with a broad range of U.S. multi-national and foreign-owned clients doing business as corporations and partnerships in the communications, financial services, and defense contractor industries.

Veteran Owned & Operated

Mr. Pontius started practicing law in the U.S. Army Judge Advocate General’s Corps with the 1st Armored Division in Wiesbaden, Germany and deployed to Tikrit, Iraq. As the supervisor of the IRS-sponsored military Volunteer Income Tax Assistance program in Wiesbaden, Germany, Mr. Pontius managed a staff of eight and ensured quality control over more than 2,000 federal and 700 state tax returns for members of the military community.

Mr. Pontius received his Tax LL.M. (Master of Laws) from the Georgetown University Law Center, and he was a student extern to Judge Paris of the U.S. Tax Court. He received his J.D. from the Widener University Commonwealth Law School, and he was a member of the Trial Advocacy Honor Society. He received his B.A. in Economics from Gettysburg College, and he was a member of the Federal Reserve Challenge Team that won first place at the Baltimore branch. He is licensed in the District of Columbia and Maryland as well as the U.S. Tax Court and the U.S. District Courts for the District of Columbia and Maryland. Mr. Pontius is a member of the Tax Sections of the American Bar Association and the Federal Bar Association. He is also a member of the Tax Sections of the Maryland State Bar Association and the District of Columbia Bar.

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